Footwear For Sloped Surfaces

ABSTRACT

Footwear for running, jogging and/or walking on a sloped surface, such as a roadway or a circular track that is not flat, for example. The footwear includes a left shoe and a right shoe. Each of the left shoe and the right shoe includes an upper member and a sole body, which is formed by one or more sole members, attached thereto. The sole bodies of each shoe are of uniformly varying thickness from the lateral side to the medial side of the shoe. The sole body of the left shoe is of a different average thickness than is the average thickness of the right shoe. The sole bodies and/or the sole members of the shoes may be reversibly connectable, such as to allow flexibility in customizing the shoes to be used on a variety of underlying surfaces, including substantially flat surfaces, for example.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to footwear. More particularly, thepresent invention relates to footwear that may be worn on a slopedsurface, such as a roadway or a circular track that is not flat, forexample, such as for running, jogging, and/or walking thereon. Stillmore particularly, the present invention relates to footwear havingsloped soles that enable a person wearing the shoes to be level whenthat person is on a surface substantially orthogonally in relation tothe direction the person is moving.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Running, jogging and walking are probably the most popular fitnessactivities. While some prefer to undertake such activities on a flatsurface, such as a flat running track, there are many individuals whoprefer to run, jog or walk on a sloped surface, such as a roadway.Indeed, some individuals consistently log one hundred miles or more eachweek traveling by foot along their favorite roadway.

Despite their popularity, however, running, jogging and walking on aroadway can be frustrating and even hazardous. The frustration andhazard of traveling by foot on a roadway is partially owed to the designof most roadways. Most roadways are built with a cross-slope, whichprimarily serves to facilitate draining of water from the road to theflanking soft shoulder. For example, according to State of MaineDepartment of Transportation model grading specifications, Maineroadways are graded with a cross-slope of ½″-per-foot of lane width fromcenterline to shoulder (e.g., a ten foot wide lane would have across-slope of 5″). Further, the Maine specifications call for shouldersof the roadway to be graded at a slightly steeper cross-slope than thatfrom centerline to shoulder. Unfortunately, sloped surfaces are notconducive to travel by foot. Individuals wearing existing footwear whiletraveling on these surfaces are forced to alter their normal gait, andtherefore their normal posture, as they run, jog and walk. For example,consider the case of a person who is running along the left side of aroadway while facing on-coming traffic (most foot travelers prefer totravel on the left side of a roadway for safety reasons). Assuming thatthis hypothetical runner is on a roadway that is graded similarly to theMaine specifications, he/she would have to step further with his/herleft foot, which is further from the roadway centerline than the right,to reach the roadway surface than with his/her right foot. Having toconsciously be aware of this needed change in gait and having toactually make this change in gait is annoying and physically burdensome.Worse, over time, this unnatural movement can cause injury, such as tothe spine or to a hip or knee, for example. In particular, the injurythat is often experienced is chondromalacia, which is felt by theinjured individual as a pain or tenderness near or under the patella atthe front or side of the knee. Pain attributable to chondromalacia mayprogressively exacerbate over time as the cartilage of the patellagradually wears away.

What is needed therefore is footwear having sloped soles that wouldenable a person to maintain normal posture and gait while traveling byfoot on a sloped surface, and in particular, on a roadway. Whilefootwear having sloped soles do exist, none are conducive for travel onsloped surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,701 issued to Smithdescribes an orthopedic device that is meant to be used to help correctpre-existing orthopedic conditions and is not meant for prevention ofsuch conditions, Further, this device, which is a shoe having aplurality of sloped wedges connected to the bottom thereof, would not beuseful for recreational running or jogging, and in fact probably wouldbe dangerous when used for those activities. This is true because whenthe wedges of the Smith device are positioned on the bottom of the soleof the device, only the wedges, which represent only a small fraction ofthe surface area of the bottom of the sole, are meant to contact aground surface when the device is worn. Anyone running or jogging whilewearing the Smith device therefore would be prone to slipping,especially when on a roadway surface that is wet or covered with debris,such as sand, for example.

As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,190 issued to Darby describesfootwear for correcting a person's walking angle. While each sole ofeach of the shoes of the footwear of Darby is of a varying thickness,the two soles are not of different average thicknesses. As a result, thefeet of a person wearing the Darby footwear while on a slope would be ondifferent planes. That is, one foot would be more elevated than theother. Due to this unevenness, the person therefore would have to alterhis/her normal gait while walking on the slope. As mentioned, this wouldbe problematic to most wearers. Further, the Smith device is alsolimited for this same reason, as the wedges of its left shoe are nodifferent than the wedges of its right shoe.

Other examples include other specialty shoes, such as golf shoes havingspikes, that are not meant for travel on rigid surfaces, such as a pavedroadway, for example. Like the footwear of Darby and Smith, none ofthese shoes address the difference in the position of the feet whenmoving in a direction that is orthogonal to the slope of the underlyingsurface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide footwear that may beused to keep a person level while the person is traveling by foot on asloped surface, such as a roadway, a circular track that is not flat, orsome beach surfaces, for example, particularly a person traveling in adirection orthogonal to the direction of the slope. The footwear of thepresent invention includes a pair of shoes, specifically a left shoe anda right shoe. Each shoe includes an upper member for holding a person'sfoot therein and a sole body, which includes one or more sole members,connectable or integral to the upper member. The sole body of each shoeis sloped such that its medial side is of a different thickness than itslateral side, and the average thickness of the sole body of one shoe isdifferent than the average thickness of the other shoe. This arrangementallows a wearer of the footwear to remain level while traveling by footon a sloped surface. Further, although the degree of slope of the solebody of one shoe of a particular pair of shoes is the same as that ofthe other shoe of that pair, this degree of slope may be varied betweenpairs of shoes, such that the sole bodies of left and right shoes of onepair of shoes may be sloped differently than the sole bodies of left andright shoes of another pair of shoes. For this reason, the footwear ofthe present invention may be specifically designed to be used on asurface having a particular slope. For example, the footwear may bedesigned specifically to facilitate travel by foot on the left side of aroadway or it may be designed specifically to facilitate travel by footon the right side of a roadway. The footwear also may be designedspecifically to be used on a roadway of a particular design.

The details of one or more examples related to the invention are setforth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Otherfeatures, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description and accompanying drawings, and the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a left shoe and a right shoe of the presentinvention, each of which has a sole body that is only an outsole member.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the right shoe of the present inventionhaving an upper member, a midsole member and an outsole member.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the left and right shoes of FIG.1 showing a second surface of the left sole body and right sole body.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the left and right shoes of FIG. 1 shown asbeing worn on a sloped surface.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the left and right shoes of FIG. 1 shown andbeing worn on a level surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is footwear that may be worn while running,jogging or walking on a sloped surface, such as a roadway or a circulartrack that is not flat, for example. In particular, wherein the persontravels in a direction that is substantially orthogonal to the directionof the sloped surface. As shown in FIG. 1, footwear 10 of the presentinvention includes a left shoe 100, having a medial side 101 and alateral side 102, for wearing on a left foot, and a right shoe 200,having a medial side 201 and a lateral side 202, for wearing on a rightfoot.

Each shoe 100/200 includes an upper member 110/210 and one or more solemembers 120/220. Individually or collectively, the one or more solemembers 120/220 form a sole body 130/230. The upper member 110/210 iseither integrally connected to, or is removably connectable to, the solebody 130/230. The upper member 110 is contoured to contain a person'sleft foot and the upper member 210 is contoured to contain a person'sright foot.

The one or more sole members 120/220 may be, for example, only anoutsole member 121/221, such as is shown in FIG. 1. When the one or moresole members 120/220 are only an outsole member 121/221, the outsolemember 121/221 is the sole body 130/230.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, the one or more sole members 120/220may be the outsole member 121/221 and a midsole member 122/222connectable to the outsole member 121/221 to form the sole body 130/230.In this arrangement, the midsole member 122/222 of the sole body 130/230is directly connectable to the upper member 110/210. (For the purpose ofclarity, the upper member 110/210, midsole member 122/222 and outsolemember 121/221 are shown as being separate in FIG. 2. However, it is tobe understood that the upper 210 is connectable to the midsole member222 and the midsole member 222 is further connectable to the outsolemember 221 in actual use.)

Although examples of each shoe 100/200 of the present invention havebeen described as including one or two sole members 120/220, it is to beunderstood that each shoe 100/200 may include more than two sole members120/220. Those of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that manyarrangements of the shoe 120/220, including those having three or moresole members 120/220, are possible.

Whether each shoe 100/200 includes only one sole member 120/220 or eachshoe 100/200 includes a plurality of sole members 120/220, the sole body130/230 formed by the one or more sole members 120/220 is asymmetricallyshaped. Referring again to FIG. 1, the sole body 130/230 has at least afirst surface 131/231, a second surface 132/232, which is opposite andspaced from the first surface 131/231, a third surface 133/233 and afourth surface 134/234, which is opposite and spaced from the thirdsurface 133/233. The first surface 131/231 is connectable or formedintegral to lower surface 111/211 of the upper member 110/210 (the lowersurface 111/211 is substantially flat), and the second surface 132/232is meant to contact a ground surface, such as a roadway, for example,when the shoes 100/200 are being worn (i.e., when a person's feet arecontained within the upper members 110/210).

Further, the second surface 132/232 of the sole body 130/230 is sloped,angled or otherwise modified such that the sole body 130/230 is ofvarying thickness from medial side 101/201 to lateral side 102/202. InFIG. 1, for example, the sole body 130 is thickest at the lateral side102 of the left shoe 100 and the sole body 230 is thickest at the medialside 201 of the right shoe 200. Specifically, the sole body 130 shown inthe drawing decreases uniformly in thickness from the lateral side 102of the left shoe 100 to the medial side 101 of the left shoe 100.Therefore, the sole body 130 is thickest at lateral sole body region 135and thinnest at medial sole body region 136. Further, the sole body 230uniformly decreases in thickness from the medial side 201 of the rightshoe 200 to the lateral side 202 of the right shoe 200. Therefore, thesole body 230 is thickest at medial sole body region 235 and thinnest atlateral sole body region 236

Referring to FIG. 3, the degree of slope of the second surface 132/232of the sole body 130/230 is substantially similar at top region 137/237with respect to the slope at rear region 138/238, and further issubstantially similar at all regions between front region 137/237 andrear region 138/238. That is, the sole body 130/230 is of a uniformlysloped thickness from front to back. It is to be noted that the solebody 130/230 may include an arch 139/239 at some point between the topregion 137/237 and the rear region 138/238, but that no portion of anyincluded arch 138/238 is be considered to be part of the second surface132/232. Therefore, any included arch 138/238 may be of any shape andslope,

The slope of the second surface 132/232 of the sole body 130/230 of theshoes 100/200 of FIGS. 1 and 3 allows a person wearing the shoes 100/200to remain level on a sloped surface when traveling substantiallyorthogonally on the left side of the surface. For example, FIG. 4 showsthe shoes 100/200 as being worn on the feet 50 of a person who isstanding on a roadway surface 60 that is sloped downwardly fromright-to-left. Due to the sloped design of the second surfaces 132/232of the sole bodies 130/230, each foot 50 (and therefore each leg 55) ofthe wearer remains at a substantially 900 angle with respect to thesurface 60 while the second surfaces 132/232 are in contact with theroadway surface 60.

In contrast to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 shoes the shoes 100/200 of FIGS. 1 and 3as being worn on the feet 50 of a person who is standing on a levelsurface 70. Due to the sloped design of the sole bodies 130/230, eachfoot 50 (and therefore each leg 55) of the wearer does not remain at asubstantially 906 angle with respect to the surface 70 while the secondsurfaces 132/232 are in contact with the roadway surface 70.

It is to be understood that while FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5 show one exampleof the shoes of the present invention, the thickness, uniformity ofthickness change, degree of slope and/or orientation of the slope of thesole bodies 130/230 of the shoes are not limited to those shown in thatexample. For example, the sole body 130 of the left shoe 100 may bethickest at medial sole body region 136 and thinnest at lateral solebody region 135, and the sole body 230 of the right shoe 200 may bethickest at lateral sole body region 236 and thinnest at medial solebody region 235. As another example, the sole body 230 of the right shoe200 may have a greater average thickness than that of the sole body 130of the left shoe 100. This flexibility in the design of the thickness,thickness uniformity, degree of slope and orientation of the slope ofthe sole bodies 130/230 of the shoes would enable a manufacturer of theshoes 100/200 to tailor the design of the shoes to a particular slope.For example, a manufacturer may design some of the shoes of the presentinvention that it manufactures for use on the left side of a roadway anddesign other shoes for use on the right side of a roadway. Further, amanufacturer may design some of the shoes of the present invention thatit manufactures for use on a roadway having a particular design, such asone having a slight slope or a very steep slope.

Further, it is to be understood that the sole body 130/230 may beintegrally connected to the upper member 110/210 or the sole body130/230 and or any one or more of the one or more sole members 120/220may be removably connectable to the upper member 110/210. The ability toremove the sole body 130/230 and or any one or more of the one or moresole members 120/220 from the upper member 110/210 would enable thewearer to add sole bodies 130/230 and/or sole members 120/220 from theupper member 110/210 or from other sole members 120 as the wearerwishes. For example, the wearer may wish to possess a plurality of solebodies collectively having a variety of shapes and thicknesses fortraveling on multiple surfaces of particular slope. As another example,the wearer may wish to have an outsole member that is not flat and amidsole member that is substantially flat; in this arrangement, thewearer could remove the outsole member from the midsole member wheneverhe/she is to run, jog or walk on a flat underlying surface.

In any arrangement, the shoes of the present invention should becomfortable and safe for running, jogging and walking. To this end, thematerial from which the upper member 110/210 may be formed may besynthetic or naturally occurring, and include, for example, nylon,taffeta, canvas, leather, suede, vinyl, nubuck, or any other material orplurality of materials that are suitable for running, jogging and/orwalking. It is to be understood, however, that the upper member 110/210is not limited to being formed from these materials. Further, thematerial from which the upper member 110/210 is formed optionally may beperforated, such as to allow air exchange between the inside of the shoe100/200 and the ambient air. Such perforation would allow the feet ofthe wearer of the shoes to remain cool and relatively free fromsweating.

Additionally, materials from which the sole members 120/220 may beformed include, but are not limited to, synthetic and naturallyoccurring materials, such as rubber and foam, for example. Suchmaterials are conducive to running, jogging and walking. Those ofordinary skill in the art would recognize materials that may be used toform the sole members 120/220.

The second surface 132/232 may be textured to allow improved tractionbetween the shoe 100/200 and a ground surface. In FIG. 3, for example,the second surface 132/232 includes treads 132′/232′. Those of ordinaryskill in the art would recognize that the second surface 132/232 may betextured in a variety of other ways to improve traction.

Further, each shoe 100/200 may optionally include an insert, which maybe padded, contained within the upper member 110/210. When the shoes100/200 are being worn, the bottom surface of the feet of the wearerwould rest upon the insert for comfort and/or moisture absorption.

The components of the shoes of the present invention, including theupper member, the one or more sole members, and the optional insert maybe fabricated into a unitary piece. Alternatively, the components of theshoes of the present invention, including the upper member, the one ormore sole members, and the optional insert, may be fabricatedseparately.

While the present invention has been described with particular referenceto certain embodiments of the shoes, it is to be understood that itincludes all reasonable equivalents thereof as defined by the followingappended claims.

1. Footwear, comprising: a. a left shoe including a left upper memberand a left sole body wherein the left sole body includes a left lateralside and a left medial side, wherein a thickness of the left sole bodyat the left lateral side is different than a thickness of the left solebody at the left medial side; and b. a right shoe including a rightupper member and a right sole body, wherein the right sole memberincludes a right lateral side and a right medial side, wherein athickness of the right sole body at the right lateral side is differentthan a thickness of the right sole body at the right medial side;wherein the thickness of the left sole body at the left lateral side isdifferent than the thickness of the right sole body at least at theright lateral side.
 2. The footwear of claim 1 wherein left upper memberis integrally connected to the left sole body and the right upper memberis integrally connected to the right sole body.
 3. The footwear of claim1 wherein left upper member is removably connectable to the left solebody and the right upper member is removably connectable to the rightsole body.
 4. The footwear of claim 1 wherein the left sole bodyincludes two or more left sole members and the right sole body includestwo or more right sole members.
 5. The footwear of claim 1 wherein theleft sole body includes a left midsole and a left outsole and the rightsole body includes a right midsole and a right outsole.
 6. The footwearof claim 5 wherein the left upper member is connectable to the leftmidsole and the left midsole is connected to the left outsole, and theright upper member is connectable to the right midsole and the rightmidsole is connected to the right outsole.
 7. The footwear of claim 5wherein a bottom surface of the left midsole and a bottom surface of theright midsole are substantially flat.
 8. The footwear of claim 1 whereinthe left shoe includes a left insert insertable within the left uppermember, and the right shoe includes a right insert insertable within theright upper member.
 9. The footwear of claim 1 wherein the left uppermember and the right upper member are formed from one or more of nylon,taffeta, canvas, leather, suede, vinyl, and nubuck.
 10. The footwear ofclaim 1 wherein the one or more left sole members and the one or moreright sole members are formed from rubber, foam or rubber and foam.